Village of Wabamun mayor Charlene Smylie wants people to know the lake is still safe, despite the first ever occurrence of blue-green algae blooms.

Two blooms were identified on the west side of the lake by the Wabamun Watershed Management Council last week near Fallis and Seba Beach. They immediately notified Alberta Environment and Parks who then notified Alberta Health Services. AHS contacted Wabamun administration on Thursday and immediately posted the advisory to their website.

Wabamun has long taken pride in its blue-green algae free status, something they will no longer be able to claim.

“Municipalities around the lake are all very concerned,” said Smylie. “It took us quite a few years after the oil spill to get the message out there that the lake is clean and it has a clean bill of health. We recovered from that and now this. I think we will also be able to recover from that too.”

The status was an important one for the Village as a number of other local lakes have almost annual blue-green algae notices, like Lake Isle and Lac Ste. Anne. Lac Ste. Anne was hit in July while Lake Isle has so far been free of the blooms. Jack Fish Lake, just west of Stony Plain off Highway 770, was also flagged at the same time as Wabamun.

Blue-green algae blooms were found near the sumer villages of Fallis and Seba Beach (above) on Aug. 14. Supplied

Making the algae a little surprising for local officials is the conditions that sprouted the blooms. Generally blue-green algae becomes an issue in hot summers in slow moving water. Wabamun Lake water is slow moving, but the weather has been anything but hot with 20-year highs in precipitation in the region this summer.

The likely culprit is extra runoff from surrounding properties, due to a higher than normal water table, pushing more nitrogen and phosphorous into the water.

“Once a lake reaches a certain level of nutrients (a tipping point), a bloom can occur when a variety of other factors line up,” said WWMC past chairperson Stan Franklin in an email.

He added it was only a matter of time before the lake had blooms. A 2013 State of the Watershed report prepared by Aquality Environmental said the nutrient levels were were below the tipping point, but not by much. As Prairie lakes like Wabamun do not have a flow of water in and out to flush the lake, there is currently no way to filter out the nutrients. Currently their best option is to minimize what goes into the lake.

The WWMC has worked hard to educate landowners and worked with partners like Parkland County, the summer villages, local farms and the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance and the Alberta Lake Management Society to promote best practices. Some of the summer villages even have fertilizer bans in place.

“Since the majority of the nutrients in a lake are contained in the lake sediments, there is essentially no way to reduce the nutrient level,” said Franklin. “Nutrient loading in water bodies is a serious problem in most parts of the developed world and science has not yet come up with a viable and cost effective solution.”

Despite AHS advisories for blue-green algae at Wabamun Lake, people were still out enjoying the sun and the water on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019. Josh Aldrich

This does not mean, however, the entire lake is unsafe to use. People just have to be aware of the algae blooms and to follow AHS guidelines.

Smylie was so confident in the safety of the water that she was still planning on taking her kids out kayaking this week, as the blooms were not found near the village site.

“I fully intend on being in the lake tomorrow, I just know I have to avoid the blooms,” she said.

Despite AHS advisories for blue-green algae at Wabamun Lake, people were still out enjoying the sun and the water on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2019. Josh Aldrich

AHS is encouraging people to avoid all contact with blue-green algae, and that includes pets as well as humans. If contact occurs, wash with tap water as soon as possible. They are also warning people to limit their consumption of fish from the lake as fish may store toxins in their liver. People can safely consume fish fillets from the lake.

AHS also reminds people to never drink or cook with untreated water directly from a recreational body of water at any time. Boiling of this water will not remove the toxins produced by blue-green algae.

People who come in contact with or ingest water containing blue-green algae may experience skin irritation, rash, sore throat, sore red eyes, swollen lips, fever, nausea and vomiting and or diarrhea. Symptoms in children are often more pronounced.

“These things normally resolve themselves on their own in a day or two,” said Dr. Shobhit Maruti, a medical officer for the Edmonton Zone AHS. “It is kind of unpredictable, it depends on how you’ve been exposed — if you jumped full on into the lake or if you just wade your feet in it — but it never follows a fixed pattern.”

If you have been exposed or com in contact with blue-green algae and you are experiencing symptoms, call Health Link by dialling 811. If it is more serious, go to a family clinic or a walk-in clinic.